That Is Just A Classic Crash Chart

We've been writing quite a bit about the Bitcoin phenomenon lately, and how the value of the digital currency has been crashing lately.

The reason we're talking about it is not because Bitcoin is that important (it's not) but because it's a fascinating chance to watch a mania form and dissipate in real time. Manias like this don't come around that often, and for many of the great historical ones there isn't such great real-time data.

But a look at a chart going back several months is just a classic, classic bubble chart: A slow build, then a huge parabolic spike, and then in an instant: it's gone.